Tunable slow light via stimulated Brillouin scattering at 2 μm based on Tm-doped fiber amplifiers

We present a slow light system based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) at 2 μm. A single-frequency fiber laser with Tm-doped fiber amplifiers was used to generate the SBS signal laser and the Brillouin pump light at 1.971 μm. The maximum delay time reaches 16 ns for pulses with 43-ns width, and the pulse width is broadened to 56.4 ns. The maximum delay time for 57-ns pulses reaches 33.4 ns, and the pulse width is broadened to 77.6 ns. The relative delays are 0.37 and 0.58 for 43 and 57 ns pulses, respectively. This is the first demonstration, as far as we know, on a slow light system at 2 μm, which may be substantial for future optical communications and LIDAR systems employing laser sources near 2-μm band.